Lessons from Implementation Science: Incorporating Qualitative Methods to Bridge the Research-to-Practice Gap in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Research in applied behavior analysis (ABA) has established the efficacy of behavioral assessment and intervention strategies based in the application of behavioral principles to issues of social importance. However, there remains a research-to-practice gap in which practitioners do not consistently implement procedures in applied contexts. Implementation science is the study of methods to promote the uptake of interventions into routine practice and uses varied methods to evaluate multiple outcomes of implementation. Qualitative research represent an important approach to the study of implementation, relying on the lived experiences of consumers to understand the contexts in which an intervention might be used. These data should inform intervention design, modification of existing strategies, and strategies to promote sustainability of interventions. In this paper, we describe the field of implementation science and how researchers in this field use qualitative research to promote the wide-spread uptake of intervention. We use this foundation to prepare behavior analysts to use qualitative research in their efforts to address the persistent research-to-practice gap in ABA.